


Wizards Vs. Wormholes

by DiscreetKitty



Category: Wizards of Waverly Place
Genre: 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Edwardian Period, F/M, Great Depression, Post-World War II, Time Travel, wizard competition
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 03:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14511354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiscreetKitty/pseuds/DiscreetKitty
Summary: Set after S4 E25: Rock Around The Clock. While Alex and Justin are attending a 1977 rock concert, TJ Tyler destroys their time machine, sending the siblings back into the year 1902. Justin has to fix the machine before a rift in the timeline erases their existence. Alex knows that if Justin fixes the machine, the Wizard Council would crown him the Family Wizard for the achievement. Now Alex has to choose to between living in a wormhole or forfeiting her powers just to return the present.





	Wizards Vs. Wormholes

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place, nor the characters and I do not make money from it. This story was requested by retro mania. Thanks for the amazing ideas!

Alex Russo was on her knees as she sat on her bedroom floor looking through her vinyl records to find one of her favorite albums “Queen of Noise” by The Runaways. The seventeen-year-old never thought of herself as one of those nostalgic nerds that craved both the simplicity and the tokens of the past. It was her love for devil music that drove the half-latino down the path to classic rock. When her parents noticed her increasing interest in old school music, they bought her a vinyl player for Christmas. Ever since then, Alex had been collecting records and had started purchasing newer albums in the forms of vinyl records. A year ago, she would have mocked people who listened to bands like the Knack, Wild Child or Kiss. Now that was all she listened to besides some of her all-time favorite bands like Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy or Paramore. Of course, Alex was not just piling through her records without a purpose. She had an agenda and the brunette that was sitting on her bed was part of that agenda.

“Alex, are you sure about this?” Harper asked as she stared at the massive collection of records on the floor.

Alex chuckled as she handed her best friend her prized album. She understood why Harper seemed hesitant to take part in the wizard’s latest scheme since it involved traveling back in time. The last time the pair had traveled into the past was to stop Alex’s grandfather, Hank Russo, from selling the substation to Lenny Hune. The trip was primarily for business purposes and Alex did not really get a chance to enjoy living in a different decade. There were some positives like Harper becoming popular and that she invited 1950's high school students to the substation for a party. Yet, Alex felt that her experience in the fifties was so small that even the party seemed lackluster compared to what she could have done. She had to take the time machine out for another spin and what better way to do that was to go back in time to see one of her favorite bands perform live.

She looked up at Harper as the paler girl studied the album cover, which showed five baby-face girls standing around a silver pole with flames dancing behind them. The cover basically summed up the Runways spirit of rebellion, their sexual expression by wearing lingerie and leather on stage and girl power by proving to all the male rock stars that they could compete with them. There was something about how brave, sultry and dominating the girls were that attracted Alex. That was something that she could relate to. Maybe that was the reason she needed to see them play live and feel the energy that thrived at the end of the seventies. The end of an era which made bands feel like they had one last chance to scream their hearts out to the world. Plus, the whole rebelling against society's expectation was one of the reasons that Alex wanted to blast their songs throughout her room. It was just unfortunate that Harper could not see the appeal of the band or any rock bands for that matter.

"Harper," Alex said as she slowly enunciated her name. "C'mon. All we have to do is take the time machine, see a concert and leave. "

Harper sighed, perhaps realizing that Alex was going to get her way rather if the mortal wanted to go or not. This made the dark-haired girl smirk as she watched Harper place the record on the side of her. Although Alex would have refused to admit it, she had a certain influence over her friend that was so powerful that she was pretty sure if she decided to visit Hell, Harper would reluctantly agree to go with her. Besides, Harper was her best friend and according to Tumblr posts, best friends were supposed to do everything together. Technically, Alex was not wrong for assuming that Harper would just go see the Runaways sing one of their last concerts as a full group. Who would not want that experience?

"What do you even wear to a 1977 concert?" Harper asked as she played with the hem of her tutu.

"Band t-shirts and black leather," Alex said before adding. "Duh!"

On that note, the two girls dressed for the concert and they headed down to the lair. Alex planned on turning off the setting on the time machine that changed the traveler's outfit to fit the style of the decade. She and Harper will be able to wear their own clothes.

Luckily for Alex, her parents were too busy to notice that she was clad in bell-bottom blue jeans, a fitted Led Zeppelin tee and a black leather jacket while Harper was wearing white knee-high boots with purple fitted jeans, a white Charlie Brown t-shirt, and an oversized black jacket that she borrowed from Jerry's trunk in the basement. Unfortunately, they caught the attention of another Russo much to Alex's dismay. She and Harper walked into the lair, assuming that they were about to journey into the past without interruption.

Alex walked over to the shelf, eyeing the cases until she found the one that contained the time machine. She smiled as she looked over at Harper, who was biting her lips and playing with her long hair. Alex sighed, realizing that Harper was still not onboard was this. The last thing Alex needed was someone killing the mood and ruining her vibe.

"It's not a big deal," Alex said, surprising herself when she realized she came off a little too harsh. She shrugged her shoulders and tried to come off as a little nicer as she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I just have a bad feeling about this," Harper replied.

That didn't make sense since the last time they traveled back in time, the trip went swimmingly. Alex was not about to force Harper to go but she wasn't about to go to a concert alone either. She was about to give her friend an ultimatum when she realized that Harper was old enough to tell Alex if she didn't want to go. There was no real way that Alex could make her go and it was not like she was threatening her or something. She decided to push aside her friend's feelings since Harper was going on her own will. The wizard turned her attention back to the time machine and took the case off and placed it on a nearby desk.

Right before Alex could even remove the time machine from its case, she heard a familiar "ahem." The half-latino rolled her eyes as her older brother walked into the lair. He seemed to smile that both girls stopped what they were doing when he arrived. It was almost as if the silence in the room had empowered him by stroking his ego. That was the last thing Alex wanted.

"What do you want, Justin?" she asked as she pronounced his name with such bitterness that she almost snarled. As expected, he clapped his hands together and walked over to his sister, tsking at her while pointing at the case on the table.

"So you thought you could just take the time machine without anyone noticing," he pointed out.

"State the obvious much," Alex retorted.

"It's dangerous to go back in -"

"We did it before and nothing happened,"

"That's because -"

"Because of what? You don't even know what I'm using it for?"

Justin's eyes seemed to widen as his eye traveled up and down his sister's body, realizing that her outfit had to call for a special situation. His eyes started scanning the two girls in front of him as he looked back at the time machine. Alex assumed that Justin was deducting as Jerry called it, which from what she understood, was using situational clues to figure out what was going on. This was a trait he learned from their father and it was honestly really annoying since the two always guessed exactly what Alex was up to.

"Outfit screams rock concert," Justin began working out the solution out loud as Alex sighed, mumbled and rolled her eyes. "The bell bottoms were only popular in the seventies." He gasped before saying, "You're going to a 1970's rock concert!"

Then his face contorted to a new expression of what Alex assumed was curiosity but it could have very well been something else like constipation or excitement. She was not really good at reading body language. He smiled and his grayish-green eyes brighten as he looked back at the time machine and then looked at Alex.

"Ooh, I wanna come," he said, practically squealing which made Alex laugh. "Are you seeing the Beatles?"

Alex squinted her eyes at her brother, shook her head to make an expression to show him how ridiculous his assumption was. The Beatles still had concerts today, although most of them were probably dead or were going to die. That was stupid to assume she'll waste the time machine to see people she could see now. The Runaways was special because lead singer Cherie Currie left the group after the second album and then Joan Jett took over her spot. So it would be rare to see the band perform in their original glory. Unlike the Beatles, whose glory was constantly being shoved in people's face and everyone always heard them perform all together. Well, maybe not since she had never seen the whole group perform together since they were all walking gravestones. Wait, that could have been the Rolling Stones. Rock bands were confusing.

"No, the Runaways," she corrected and when he looked confused she said, "The band that Joan Jett was in before she was with the Blackhearts." Since he seemed surprised at this fact, Alex rolled her eyes as she sad "the band from the movie where Kristen Stewart made out with Dakota Fanning."

"Oh, I remember now."

"Now ya do," Harper mumbled which surprised Alex. She was finally rubbing off on the paler girl.

"Well, let's go," Justin said, which was the first time he said something today that Alex agreed with.

Alex removed the lid of the case on the time machine before lifting the toy-like device out of its box. The time machine was exterior cover was bright yellow and the interior was decorated with a bright-colored font that was around the red button in the center made the machine look like a toy for a toddler. She held the machine against her chest as she cranked the red button until it reached the year she wanted. Right before she pressed the button down, she heard Harper start speaking.

“You know what,” she said as she took off her jacket and handed it to Justin. “I just …" she paused before quickly shouting, "see you later Alex!”

She walked out the room as Justin slipped the jacket on. Apparently, Harper did not want to be a part of the trip and that hurt Alex a little. Times like this is when she missed Stevie since she was the friend that was always down to do whatever. Harper seemed so unusually nervous that Alex was not sure if she should have asked her if the paler girl knew something that the half-latino did not. She was not going to let Harper stop her from having a good time. She looked over at Justin as he adjusted the jacket on him.

She said nothing as she pressed the button, sending the two siblings flying across the universe, sliding through parallels and unconsciously floating through cosmos as the speed of light sent the pair through wormhole. The world rotated in reverse, spinning rapidly as the universe had changed its laws to accustom their arrival of the siblings into a previous time period. The earth's axis shook uncontrollably as the effects of greenhouse gases reverted, the world became colder as the concept of global warming no longer existed. The earth’s rotation slowed as the universe was ready to send the time travelers to their destination. Out of a wormhole, the Russo siblings were sent to Waverly Place in 1977.

To Alex, she had just appeared in the decade and did not realize the effect that time traveling had on the earth or the amount of work it took them just to go to the past. All she knew that she felt lighter and a little unbalance in her black leather boots and since the boots had a heel, she was afraid she was going to break her ankle if she fell back. She was extremely dizzy and did not notice that Justin had nearly fallen from the impact of traveling. It seemed like time traveling was easier the first time when they went to see Grandpa Russo in the fifties. It took a little while for Alex to get her bearings and it took longer for her to realize that she was in the lair. She almost thought the time traveling didn’t work until she saw the lava lamps on the end tables.

“We’re here,” Alex announced as she sat on a nearby chair to prevent herself from falling.

She laid her head back, closing her eyes as the world continued spinning around her. She heard Justin say that something did not seem right and unbeknown to Alex, Justin was laying on a rug on the floor since he was so dizzy that he had to lay down. Alex had planned to teleport to the concert once she arrived in the lair but there was no way she could teleport when she was feeling this bad. The world faded around her as she kept her eyes closed. She opened her eyes once she felt someone’s hand touch her body. Her eyes shot open and her heart was beating fast in her chest until she noticed the familiar pair of silvery-green eyes staring at her.

“Justin,” she said relieved.

The only other person who would have been towering over her was Grandpa Hank since he knew about the lair and Alex was pretty sure her dad was too young to be going to the lair himself. She wasn’t sure why she felt so on edge but maybe that was a new side effect of time traveling.

“There must be a glitch in the time machine,” he said. “Or maybe we cause a tear in the universe the last time we traveled. Let’s just see the concert and go back home.

“Agreed.”

Justin helped her to her feet and placed a protective arm around her waist, pulling her close to him as he pulled out his wand. Alex wasn’t sure if he knew where to go but she was pretty sure that he had a better idea then her since all she knew she wanted to see the Runaways and that they were performing in New York on that night. Fortunately, he said the right words that transported the siblings right into the concert. The two were standing in the middle of the concert on the main level and was surrounded by fans as they all waited for the show to start.

There was something odd about being amidst people that would be old in Alex’s time. Maybe it was just the fact that there was the feeling she didn’t belong here or the fact that Justin still did not let go of her. Justin held onto Alex a little too long and Alex awkwardly nudged him to release her. His face colored in a way that must have meant he was embarrassed. The only thing Alex wanted to do is leave and come back when the concert started. She excused herself and told Justin that she had to use the bathroom. She pushed herself through the crowd and made her way towards the huge open area outside the concert where there were food stands and public restrooms.

As she walked to the bathroom, she spotted someone with curly brown hair that reminded her of someone she used to know. Of course, she would not have seen someone she knew since she literally was years in the past. She stopped in her track when she heard, “I'll show you front row seats.”

“TJ?” Alex asked as she whipped her head around.

His eyes widened and he froze as she walked over to him. What was the odds that two wizards would run into each other while time traveling? TJ did not seem like the type of person that would have been a fan of an all-female punk rock band from the seventies. In fact, it was highly unlikely that he had traveled to the decade just to go to a concert. He had to have a different reason to be here and Alex had a feeling that he was up to no good. She sighed as she strutted over to the boy, feeling obligated to talk to him as the intensity of his stare caught the attention of others in the room. The only thought that Alex could think was that this situation would have made a great song that either Brennan Urie or Gerald Way would have gladly sung.

“Alex,” he finally said as he dug his hands into his pocket.

He must have been wondering what Alex was doing here as well. Unlike him, Alex rarely did anything to hurt others and she assumed that he must have known she was there to actually see the concert. The way his eyes skimmed up and down her body, he had to realize that she was just another fan that was seeing her favorite band. Alex could have been mistaken but he kind of smiled as he scanned her body. The corner of his lips rose in a way that made Alex wonder if he had ever had a crush on her. That thought was quickly confirmed when he ran a hand through his hair and started leaning against the wall in a way that made the girl want to roll her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she placed a hand on her hip and that gesture made TJ smirk.

"I'll show you -" he started to say until Alex rose her eyebrows and then he stopped himself. "Alright. I have been living in the past since I realized that you would keep trying to stop me from doing whatever I want after you undid the spell on my ex-girlfriend."

Of course, he was going to blame things on her since he had a habit of not taking responsibility for his actions. Alex hated people like that which was why she always pointed as when her actions were the result of either Justin or her father's fault. To make his accusation worse, he raised his eyebrows in a flirty way. He must have thought that it was perfectly normal to flirt with a girl after criticizing her. TJ was always known for, as Justin called it, socially inept, whatever that meant. To Alex, he just had bad people skills or bad everything for that matter. Then again, not everyone could be as awesome as her.

"So," she began. "You've been living here for what? Weeks? Months? Years?"

"I show - sure have!" he said and then smiled. 

He must have thought that Alex didn't notice what he was originally about to say. This idea was confirmed when he whispered "smooth" to himself. Alex could not resist rolling her eyes and she did in such an exaggerated way that some bleach blonde onlooker scoffed in Alex's direction.

"You wanna know something groovy?" he asked and then shot her a goofy smile after saying the word "groovy."

Alex huffed, crossed her arms and the nodded. This kid was beginning to embarrass her. She could feel his "ness" starting to stink up the area, which was the best way to describe that his awkwardness was making Alex look like a dork by default. Even Justin wasn't this bad.

"I rented a crib in Williamsburg, which is across the bridge from lower Manha-"

"I know where Williamsburg is," Alex interrupted.

"Well, since you're such a far-out chick," he began and received a groan from Alex. "Wanna boogie out of here and," he paused before saying "funk-it out," while winking.

Alex pretended to gag before asking "Seriously?"

His face turned bright red and there was a flash of anger in his eyes.

"Uh ... no," he shuddered. "Just joking."

"Right," Alex said as she started walking away.

As she headed towards the main entrance of the concert, she heard him call her name. She spun around and looked back at him.

"We could hang out after the show," he suggested.

Alex chuckled before spinning around and heading back to the concert. Did the loser seriously think that he had a chance with her? She was already in a relationship with Mason Greyback so she was not looking to date anyone else right now. Even if she was single, there was no way she would ever even consider holding hands with TJ At one point, she thought that he could be a friend and that was only after they had first met. Now she could not even see them doing anything remotely near each other. It was already gross that they were at the same venue at the same time. At least, she would not have to see him for the rest of the night.

When she made it back to her seat, Justin seemed peeved that she took so long to come back. He had his hands over his ears as the fans around him cheered and shouted in anticipation of the band. The time machine was placed in his lap and the bright colored of the machine stood out in the dimly lit area. He took his hands off his ears and raised his eyebrows when he noticed the smirk that was on Alex's face.

"Allleeexxx," he said in a warning tone which made Alex laugh. "What did you do?"

"Me?" she asked as if she was surprised that sweet little Alex could ever do something wrong. Then she chuckled before saying, "You'll never guess who I ran into?"

Justin's already light eyes brighten as his brain started creating a list of every single famous person and their mom that was alive in 1977. Alex did not have the patience for that level of depth ina guessing game. She cut Justin off just as his mouth started forming letters.

"Gosh Justin," she exclaimed. "You make even guessing games boring. I'll just tell you. TJ Tyler."

Alex almost laughed as she watched as Justin's face changed from excitement to alarm. What was funny was how long it took for the name to register in his head? It was not like he knew that many people and there were only one TJ Tyler that the siblings knew. As expected, his dark eyebrows scrunched and Alex assumed that his mind was racing was ideas and thoughts. The only thought Alex could think was how boring it had to be to be Justin. All he did was think and he obviously was not that good at it since it took so long. But this was Justin she was talking about. The boy that cared more about dumb comic book characters and stupid educational stuff like math and what was that other thing - oh right - science. Yeah, he cared a lot about that and other unimportant stuff as well like TJ Tyler's life story.

"Do you know why he's here?" he asked.

"Gee Justin, do you think I can read minds?"

His face seemed to soften and then he stood up and said, "We need to find out why he's here Alex."

The sense of urgency in his voice made Alex start to wonder if she would be able to see the concert. When the dork was serious, he would not stop until he resolved the situation. She knew her brother was as serious as a heart attack from the way he gripped the yellow handle of the time machine. And Alex knew that TJ was not going to let Justin interrogate him either. She sat down and sighed as she mentally kissed the Runaways good-bye. Since they weren't on stage, she had mentally blown a kiss to an empty stage. This was a sign that this day was officially going downhill.

"Uh no," she exclaimed as she threw her head back. "That's too much work." Justin gave her a stern look before she said, "I already talked to him."

Justin's face started turning red and Alex could tell that he was about to yell.

"Then why did you say that you could not read minds if-"

"Cause I can't," she responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What did he say!" Justin asked as he started rubbing his temples.

"He told me something about us ruining his life or something like that after we turned the art teacher back into a girl," Alex explained as she began inching her leather jacket off her shoulders until she pulled the confining item off her arm. "He definitely blamed you."

"Well, where is he?" Justin asked as he grabbed Alex by the arm, ignoring her protest, and pulled her up onto her feet.

He started dragging Alex down the row of seats as he went on about the fact that was years ago when the Jenny Majorhealy thing happened. He mentioned something about how that could cause a rift in the universe and that explained why they were so sick from time traveling. He said something that sounded scientific and that they had to bring TJ back to the present. Alex wasn't listening and was more focus on the bruise that he was going to leave as he pulled her down the steps and practically tore her arm off until they were outside in the huge open space where the food stands and the bathrooms were located. Luckily for Alex's arm, Justin had released his grip when they spotted TJ in the same spot he was previously. He noticed Alex and Justin right away and it looked like he was considering to run or to stay. She noticed that he was eyeing Justin and at first, she felt a bit jealous since TJ was already moving on after she rejected him. Then, she realized that he was staring at the time machine. Maybe she should have put her jacket around the machine and then she remembered that she left her jacket in her seat.

"TJ," Justin started. "You have to go back to the present."

"I'll show you-"

"You are never going to get girls if you keep saying that," Alex pointed out.

"You are putting rifts into the universe which could create a black hole that destroys the world," Justin tried to explain. "We are going back to the present now and you are coming with us."

"What?" Alex and TJ exclaimed at the same time.

Alex did not agree to skip the concert because of that dweeb. She should have waited to tell Justin about the little pest after the concert ended. From what Alex could interpret from the nerd talk, it seemed unlikely that she would be returning to the decade to see the concert. Justin was always ruining everything for her. As Alex thought about how unfair it was for her to miss the concert, she did not realize that TJ was eyeing the time machine. Before she even had a chance to look up, TJ had kicked the machine out of Justin's hand and it landed on the ground with a huge thump. What caught her attention was Justin's loud shriek. When she looked down, there was static coming from the machine.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" Justin yelled as TJ stood there, looking confused. "It's broken!"

Justin picked up the machine as smoke started coming out of it. He nearly dropped it again since holding the machine started burning his flesh. How was she supposed to go back home if the machine was broke? Now Alex was worried and the only thing she could do was blame the boy in front of her.

"Dude, what the heck?" Alex shouted as she glared at TJ. Then she turned to her brother, who was blowing cool air from his mouth onto his hand, to ask, "How are we going to go home?"

"I don't know," Justin said. She could tell he was panicking.

"I'll show you that I don't know," TJ choked out.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a deafening screech that made all three wizards put their hands over their ears. The sound reminded the girl of the hard white noises that happened when the television use to go off the air when the colorful lines would appear on the screen. Alex glanced at the corner of her eye and noticed that other people were walking around, oblivious to the sound. The world began brightening into a harsh white color until the only thing Alex saw was white.

Slowly her consciousness started to drift as her body was floating across the planes of the galaxy. The tan flesh of her body began to lighten as her body flew through the dark sky, past the stars as her body began rotating around the earth. A small black hole opened up as she alongside two others floated into it. Within the black hole, a rift, a tear as small as the size of an apple, widened to allow the bodies to enter. Another black hole formed at the end of the original one, creating a wormhole to transport the siblings through. Time past and the earth spun as fast as the blades of a window fan. After a few minutes, the rotation slowed and the rift re-opened and spit out the three bodies it had swallowed. The bodies were in embryonic pods and were safe from catching on fire as they descended onto the earth.

******

Her eyes were closed and she pressed her back into something soft and bushy. She turned over and ran her hand over what she expected to be her pillow. Her fingers felt the long blades of grass as her fingernails dug into the dirt. The first thing that came to her mind was that her brothers had pulled a prank on her. When she opened her dark eyes, she was greeted by the view of the gray sky. She immediately sat up and noticed that her arms were covered in a thick velvet-like black sweater. She looked down and realized that she was wearing a matching skirt that came down to her ankles. She looked over and noticed that Justin was on one side of her and TJ was on the other side. She moved over to her brother, realizing that he was wearing a black three-piece suit with the same thick material that Alex was wearing. She began shaking him, trying to wake him up as she noticed that in the distance, there were people in horse-drawn carriages traveling by.

"Justin, wake up!" she yelled. "Wake up!"

Justin would not wake up and all Alex could do is look around. In her immediate view, there was only trees and grass, farther away was a road and on the other side of that road was a group of small buildings that appeared piled together. Behind her, the time machine was lying on the ground. She pulled herself over to the time machine, immediately noticing that the red button was melted and that the left side of the machine was busted open to the extent that the wires that hung out appeared chopped. She looked at the face of the machine, looking for the part that read the year. She gasped and started panicking. She went back over to Justin and started frantically shaking him, even going as far as to slap his face.

Tears poured down her cheek as she cried, "Justin please wake up! Don't leave me! The time machine sent us to 1902! Please wake up! I don't want to be alone!"

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Did you enjoy reading Wizards Vs. Wormholes? Please favorite, follow and review since it encourages me to continue writing. Feel free to follow me @discreetkitty on Instagram and @DiscreetKitty96 for story updates, nostalgia show posts, and request.


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